I just paid for a membership. It won’t let me study a new lesson. It also says I have no new reviews. I wasn’t able to do any new lessons today. Please help! I bought it hoping I could spend a few hours studying today and I can’t even do even one lesson
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Hey! would you be able to share a screenshot of what the UI shows you?
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Does it looks like this?
If so you might have done all available lessons and reviews you have! You will get more lessons when you guru items. Look at this knowledge guide, it might teach you a bit about how this website work 
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Also, wanikani is a marathon so you have to wait for reviews. If you want something to study while waiting for reviews, I would reccomend starting grammar! Many people say to maybe wait until you are higher level, but I personally do not think you need to. I really enjoy this channel Tokini Andy Genki 1, he goes through a grammar book that is very popular
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My picture does look like this one. But I didn’t even get a chance to study at all today. I could only do a review of a review that I did before. So no new material at all.
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As you see in the right widget, you have +10 reviews coming today, and 24 coming tomorrow. You have probably done all lessons available to you. You need to review items 4 times total after taking them as a lesson to guru them. When you guru radicals, you will get more kanji lessons since they build on each other. So when you afterwards unlock kanji lessons, do them and guru them, you will unlock vocabulary lessons with them! Take a look at the knowledge guide I linked
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So, my theory is that you’re probably just waiting on your radicals/kanjis to be guru’d so you can unlock new items!
I don’t want to assume you know how the SRS system works and etc so I’ll try my best to explain!
Basically, every item you learn has SRS (Spaced-Repetition-System), in short, a formula that helps you hold stronger retention for items that you learn. (So take for example the radical for 大, you learn it once, then you review it after 4HR→8H4>24HR→48HR and so on and so on)
This page is available for more in depth explanation on how it works!
This is relevant here because the way that levels work, you have radicals, initial set of kanjis, and then vocabulary! radicals unlock kanjis, and kanjis unlock vocabulary words.
So until you finish reviewing to guru, you won’t see any other items! (probably)
Hope this helped, have an amazing time studying!
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Thank you. So I have to wait for the lessons to unlock (sometime today but not sure when)
I see how the guru works through your link. Thanks again. Sadly all but one kanji is locked. So, for now, that means the only thing I can do is wait?
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Yes unfortunately you have to wait to do more lessons on Wanikani, the first three levels is also “fast” levels, so the review time is shorter. From level 4 you have to wait more between each review. Meanwhile I suggest doing some grammar studies while you have energy and motivation!
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Thank you. I used Anki for SRS for years. I signed up at Wanikani because I figured paying would force me to study (my brain wants to work if I pay)… But, it seems this system is a little unique in that it has a strong limiter on what I am allowed to learn?
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Yeah! it’s more of a “slow approach” because the levels are organized and designed by how wanikani deemed fit, so it’s a timely matter.
In essence, assuming you’re always on top shape and doing your reviews steadily you can spend around like 8-15 days on a level (I think that’s a fair median but then again, life happens and rarely ever gets easier hahaha)
Thanks everyone. I appreciate your help… unfortunately for me, I decided to use a pay service to force me to study hard. And Wanikani isn’t designed to allow me to do that. I understand the theory behind it. But dissapointed I can’t shoot through faster. Using other SRS systems like Anki, I know I can handle more than what they give me. Also I’m not a beginner. I know a few hundred kanji already.
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Strange…didn’t the app used to prevent purchase until you finished the first three free trial levels??
Oof, then yeah I do not think wanikani is for you unfortunately 
it is very strict in which order they want you to learn so if you already know a few hundred kanji I would go for another resource. Good luck!
Thanks… i guess I’m out 9 dollars… aka 1400 yen (plus whatever international fees might apply)… Using the trial, the limitations of the system wasn’t clear. I just figured, when I pay, I would start to pick up on my studies. I can tell this community is a great community already and you are all so kind and helpful. However, I sort of wish I could get a refund and put that money towards something I can use. haha. Thanks so much every. Have a fantastic day!
I think you can ask for a refund! Refunds | WaniKani Knowledge
Also, I would recommend staying in these forums even if you do not do wanikani. There is lots of book clubs, video game clubs, podcast clubs etc!
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Thank you! I can tell you guys are all awesome. And, I also really enjoy the whole WaniKani (Tofugu) feel. Honestly, it was a big reason I wanted to join. I used Anki on and off for years. But, it’s just you alone, no community, and no “flavor” or atmosphere so it’s so difficult to keep studying.
This community also reminds me of the old days of Duolingo (for other languages, never Japanese on Duolingo. haha) when it had a comment section. It made studying much more fun because people would have chats in the comment section. They took that away and Duolingo lost it’s charm.
Thanks again! Keep on studying and have a great rest of the year!
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Do not hesitate to stick around the community! We have nice book clubs and such
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The free trial is up to level 3, so I’d recommend getting a refund and then still use WK but not subscribing until then.
Also definitely go read the FAQ to learn about how the lesson picker and the SRS system works. And probably look into getting scripts or third party apps.
Because yes WK does gate you, but that doesn’t mean it’s slow. If you know the system you can do a level in 7-8 days, which is often about 30 items per day. It requires doing radicals and kanji first, and if that pace is kept up, it’ll end up being about 200 - 300 reviews per day once you’re a few months in. That is actually quite fast, and probably about how many new cards you’d be doing going fast in Anki or other systems.
Edit: but if you do want an alternative with an active community and no gating, MaruMori would be my recommendation.
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